Abdominal wall abscess, an unusual complication of Seton: A case report

An anal fistula is a communicating tract between the inner anus or rectum and the external skin surrounding the anus. It causes chronic discharge of pus that typically has an offensive odor. The treatment of anal fistula has challenged physicians and healers for millennia. References to fistulous disease and use of both fistulotomy and seton can be found in the writing of Hippocrates, dating from 400 BC. Although the primary objective of operative procedure is to heal the fistula, equally important is the morbidity of the procedure. Seton have been used to manage anal fistula from hundreds of year; however, in the literature, Seton were commonly used only for high or complex anal fistula in order to avoid fecal incontinence or recurrence. The usual complications arising due to a seton procedure are discomfort, bleeding, local abscess formation, mucous or liquid stool discharge, recurrence and incontinence. We present a case of abdominal wall abscess arising as a complication of Seton procedure.